1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to flooring structures for use in swimming pools, and also to an improved flooring structure module which can be assembled in various combinations to provide a swimming pool flooring structure of desired size.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Since the construction costs of swimming pools, and in particular large swimming pools of say 50 meter length, is very great, and represents a substantial capital investment, most cities and towns are striving for better general use of such facilities. The 50 meter pools used for international swimming competition are required to have a minimum depth of approximately 6 feet, and because of this depth such pools are of limited use for general public swimming, and in particular are unsuitable for use by young children. For this reason proposals have been made to provide such pools with floors of adjustable height in at least one section of the pool so that the depth of water in that section can effectively be reduced to a level which is safe for use by young children. However, such adjustable floors as have hitherto been proposed are generally very expensive to install and maintain and require considerable modification of the floor structure of the pool. Furthermore, because of their complexity, such adjustable floor structures almost always have to be installed at the time of construction of the pool since the modifications required to install such structures in existing pools render the cost prohibitive. An additional problem associated with the installation of such structures in existing pools is that they are generally of substantial height so that even when they are lowered to the inactive position at the bottom of the pool, there may still not be sufficient depth of water above the adjustable flooring structure to satisfy depth requirements.